u/AdDisastrous4167

PC: madison sanflippo

In the last decade, we have lost 24 orcas since 2015, and a significant portion passed in August. Here are all of them.

PC: PNPA, EchoBeluga, Miami Seaquarium, divafloraphotography, Caitlin Fagan

The species listed in the Zoopedia is the Longfin Batfish, but the scientific name is listed as P. pinnatus, which also would be correct. But it is the lesser "common" name of the species, and it's usually referred to as the Dusky Batfish. The model in-game isn't properly reflected, as we still haven't gotten more in-game photographs of the specific species. But so far, it seems to reflect P. teira, as P. pinnatus has longer lips. It is also peculiar to me that IF they chose to go with P. pinnatus, as it's the rarer of the two and is not as common as the Longfin or Orbicular Batfish.

But we still have to see, as Zoopedia is still in its "Beta" stage.

Contrary to popular belief, it's not just Morgan; it's everyone.

Now, what could be the reasons behind this form of behavior?

Could it be a form of play or learned behavior?

Today is the birthday of Luna, the youngest orca at Kamogawa Sea World and all of Japan.

Luna was born at Kamogawa Sea World on July 19th to parents Lovey and Oscar. At that time, four other orcas lived at Kamogawa: her parents, her aunt Lara, and her older brother Earth.

In November, following a public naming contest, she was named "Luna", which means "Moon" in Latin. Lovey’s first calf, a four-year-old male named Earth, was very interested in Luna. The two spent a lot of time together, though Lovey began to displace Earth when he would play "too rough" with Luna.

When Luna was just a few months old, she was already participating in shows. She was housed solely with her mom, Lovey, and her aunt, Lara. On December 20th, 2012, her father, Oscar, passed away from an undisclosed illness.

In December 2015, Earth was transferred to the Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium. That same day, Luna’s other aunt, Ran, was transferred to Kamogawa Sea World. Luna met Ran shortly after, and the two had a close bond. Luna was trained for waterwork behaviors and became reliable in all aspects of performing.

On April 24th, 2024, Ran was transferred to Kobe Suma Sea World. Since then, Luna has lived solely with Lovey and Lara. She has been training for artificial insemination and may have become pregnant at one point, according to rumors, but no official sources have confirmed this.

In a physical examination on March 28, Luna finally reached 5 meters in length, measuring 503 cm. In the last year, she has grown 24 cm and gained 220 kg, making her comparable to her mother, Lovey, and to Lara. Luna may soon surpass her mother Labby's current length (528 cm).

According to trainers, Luna is described as childlike and is known to play energetically.

Happy birthday to Takara, the matriarch of the SeaWorld San Antonio pod and the second oldest living captive-bred orca.

According to her trainers, she is very intelligent and loves to learn new and challenging behaviors. She is a very good mother and has had a total of six pregnancies and five live births. She is a very experienced mother and will occasionally delay or interrupt shows.

Takara was born on July 9th, 1991, in San Diego to Kasatka. She was the second orca successfully raised at the park. Her father was Kotar, who lived in San Antonio. Both of her parents were Icelandic, making Takara herself pure Icelandic.

When she was born, excluding herself and her mother, Kasatka, two other orcas lived at the park, Corky and Orkid. She got along well with all whales and was very close to Kasatka. She also grew close to Orkid, who was a good playmate for her.

In 1992, less than a year after her birth, a young killer whale named Splash was moved to the park. Splash had epilepsy, a neurological disorder that caused seizures, and was moved to SeaWorld for better care. He was quickly adopted by Corky, though he was close to the rest of the whales as well. About two years later, a bull named Ulises also joined the San Diego pod.

In 1999, three more whales arrived. Keto and Sumar from Orlando in February, Keto was Takara's half-brother, and Keet in November, he was also Takara's half-brother. In September of 2001, Kasatka gave birth to Takara's half-brother, named Nakai. Takara was present for his birth. She helped her mom take care of him, and Kasatka taught her how to care for a calf. In May of the following year, Takara gave birth to her own calf, a daughter named Kohana. Kasatka and Nakai were present during Kohana's birth, and Kasatka helped her daughter through the process. Both were AI'd by Tilikum before their births.

In 2004, Takara had to unfortunately leave her birth pod behind, as she and Kohana went to SeaWorld Orlando, leaving her early life behind. At Orlando, she was joined by various other whales, like Katina, Tilikum, Kalina, and Taima. Taku, a subadult male and the son of Katina, took an interest in Takara after her arrival, and she soon fell pregnant again. On November 23rd, 2005, Takara gave birth to her second calf, a son named Trua. Kohana was soon transferred in 2006.

In 2009, Takara was transferred for the final time to San Antonio. Here, she quickly became the matriarch; four other whales lived at the park, being Kyuquot, Keet, Unna, and Tuar. In 2010, she had her third daughter, Sakari. In 2012, she suffered a miscarriage. In 2013, she had Kamea. Unna passed away in 2015. In 2017, Takara made headlines as she gave birth to Kyara, the last orca born at SeaWorld, unfortunately Kyara died after 3 months. In June 2025, Kamea passed away unexpectedly.

Today, she lives with her youngest daughter and two bulls, Kyuquot and Tuar. And today, she's in very good health, and she is the most interactive adult whale at SeaWorld, and is known for a brown tea stain mark on her chin.

PC: dakotajophotos (IG), SeaWorld

Athena was such a pretty little calf; it's quite sad she died at a young age, and her death is still undisclosed to this day. She was Canada's last captive bred orca and Kiska's last surviving calf.

PC: Michael Noonan Photography, Holly C, Suzanne Lavoie

PC: SeaWorld

She was gorgeous. I wish she had gotten more time at SeaWorld San Diego; she would've been 49 today. I'm sad all of her calves passed before she subsequently did.

PC: Joy Grant

Do you think they were a truly functional pod when they grew up in 2013-16? Because even in 2016-17, some people claimed Loro Parque Pod was always dysfunctional and disorganized, and had no matriarch. But, I think the pod stabilized around the mid 2010s.

This photo is clear evidence of all pod members getting along, and Tekoa is cuddling on Morgan's flipper for some reason.

Rest in Peace, Keto, Kohana, Skyla, and Ula

PC: Loro Parque

I can't believe it has been three years without this boy. He was so young.

I was really forward to seeing how big he would've grown, but I guess we'll never know. He was my favorite Moskvarium orca and Nord is probably one of the more unique-looking captive orcas along with Orkid.

Rest in Peace, Nord

PC: Inherently Wild

Morgan was born in 2007 or 2008 off the coast of Norway. She is the only female orca at Loro Parque and is the matriarch there.

Somehow, in the summer of 2010, she had gotten herself completely lost when she was found swimming alone in the Wadden Sea, Netherlands. She was emaciated to the brink of death; she only weighed 430 kg (947 lbs), while a whale of her size should weigh at least 700-800 kg (1540-1760 lbs). Thankfully, help came and rescued her from certain death by starvation and pneumonia.

She was then sent to Dolfinarium Harderwijk, a facility with extensive experience with rescued dolphins and harbor porpoises, and which had kept Icelandic killer whales in the 70s-80s before their transfer to facilities decades ago. Less than three months after her arrival in Harderwijk, she had gained 250 kg.

Dolfinarium Harderwijk's original goal was to release her, and they worked with NAKID (North Atlantic Killer Whale ID) to find her birth pod. However, subsequently, the Dutch Government decided Morgan was unreleasable due to her young age, and the only options for her were euthanasia or transfer to another facility with killer whales.

In 2011, a permit for transfer to Loro Parque (one of the two facilities housing Killer whales in the EU) was approved. Here she met Keto, Kohana, Skyla, Tekoa, and Adan. Being the youngest female in the pod, she was displaced by the matriarch, as she was the lowest-ranking female.

In May 2012, a team of veterinarians discovered that Morgan suffers a profound hearing deficit, meaning that she is partially or even fully deaf. Morgan has difficulty responding to auditory cues such as whistles but is very good at responding to hand or arm gestures, which led her veterinarians to believe she may be hard of hearing. An electrophysiological probe done on Morgan confirmed this. Due to her deafness, a new bridging system was installed in the killer whale complex for Morgan to understand when she performs a behavior correctly. The new system includes light boxes that flash whenever Morgan has been bridged.

In 2017, it was confirmed that Morgan was pregnant; the father was Keto. On September 22nd, 2018, Morgan gave birth to her first calf, Ula. Morgan, unfortunately, couldn't nurse Ula, so both had to be temporarily separated. Morgan would spend time near the medical pool gate where Ula stayed. Finally, they were both reintroduced, and both did well together.

In the next 2 years, Skyla, Ula, and Kohana all passed away.

In 2023, Morgan got pregnant for the second time, likely by Keto. Unfortunately, before Keto could meet his future son, Keto passed away in 2024. On March 31st, 2025, Morgan gave birth to Teno. Teno has met Tekoa and Adan, and the pod is healthy right now.

Her name, "Morgan," is of Welsh and Brenton origin, which means "Bright shining sea" or "sea-born."

On a sadder note, today is the 3rd anniversary of Nord's passing.

PC: DikaFloraPhotography, Loro Parque

Tuar was born to Kalina and Tilikum at SeaWorld Orlando. He was Kalina's third surviving calf and the fourth pregnancy. His name means "Unique" in Inuit.

He was born on June 22nd, 1999, to Kalina and Tilikum, and was featured on Animal Planet's That's My Baby series. He spent time with his parents and other pod members; he was known to be very close to Unna and Tekoa, another calf around his age. Tekoa was rejected by his mother, Taima, and Kalina stepped up as a surrogate for him.

In 2004, Kalina gave birth to Tuar's full-blooded sister, Skyla, and he met her a few days after her birth. On April 25th, 2004, Tuar was transferred to SeaWorld San Antonio alongside Tekoa. At the time, it was speculated that their move was in preparation for a future transfer to Loro Parque, a facility located in Spain. Here he met Kayla and his half-brothers, Kyuquot and Keet, and was reunited with Unna.

Tuar was slow to adjust the move. After arriving in Texas, he began rubbing his teeth against concrete and picking the paint at the bottom of the pools. This caused damage to some of his teeth and required them to be drilled. Although Tuar made notable progress through the years, he remained highly sensitive to small changes in his environment. At some point, Tuar and Tekoa began to spend more time apart, and in February 2006, Tekoa and Keto were transferred to Loro Parque.

In 2009, an adult female named Takara came to San Antonio. He and the other members of the pod soon met her. In 2010, Takara gave birth to Tuar's younger half-sister, Sakari. In 2012, Keet was transferred to San Diego. In 2013, Takara gave birth to Kamea. Unfortunately, in 2015, Unna passed away.

In 2016, SeaWorld announced an end to its breeding program. They also announced that Takara was expecting her fifth calf, fathered by Kyuquot. On April 19th, 2017, Takara gave birth to Kyara, the last killer whale born at SeaWorld. In late July, Kyara developed pneumonia and was moved to the Animal Care Center for more intensive care. She passed away there on July 24th, 2017, at just over three months old. In June 2025, Kamea suddenly passed away from a respiratory illness.

Tuar is a very high-energy and playful whale. He's reliable in shows and is mainly grouped with Kyuquot. However, he is an extremely environmentally sensitive whale. He’s easy to break out of control when something small in his environment changes, such as water levels, cranes, or water tights going into the pool. Tuar is the second-largest whale in Texas. He has small, rounded eye patches and a dorsal fin collapsed completely to his left. He has large pectoral fins, and his right tail fluke curls downward.

PC: dakotagophotos (IG), floppyfins.photography

This is Freya, she was the last wild caught orca in France and the oldest orca at Marineland Antibes at the age of 34.

She was captured off the coast of Stokkseyri, Iceland, at the age of ~1, along with Nootka IV, Kim II, Haida II and an unnamed male.

She was then taken to Marineland Antibes, France along with Kim. Upon their arrival, they joined Betty, an 8 year old female. They got along well and performed together until Betty died of unknown causes in 1987.

Freya then suffered an illness in 1986 and subsequently recovered. In 1991, Sharkane and Tanouk arrived at Marineland. While Sharkane fit well into the social structure, there was tension between Kim and Tanouk, so Tanouk was often kept in the back pools. This may have been due to Freya's pregnancy at the time. In 1995, Tanouk was sold to Izu Mito Sea Paradise in Japan.

Freya had a tumor that was removed in 1995. However, you could still see the circular scar on her left side.

In 1993, Sharkane gave birth to Shouka, and Freya was a good aunt to Shouka. Freya had her third pregnancy and first surviving calf, Valentin in 1996. Both grew close. On February 23rd, 1999, Sharkane gave birth to Inouk and on June 1st, 2001, Sharkane gave birth to Wikie. Freya likely met them few days or weeks after their births.

Although she gave birth to a healthy calf in 1996, Freya gave birth to two more stillborns in 2001 and 2003. In 2001, Shouka was transferred to the United States, leaving her birth pod behind. In 2005, Kim passed away due to pneumonia. In the late 2000s, Sharkane and Wikie underwent artificial insemination procedures and training, it's unknown if Freya participated in them as well. In 2009, Sharkane succumbed to a bacterial infection. That same year, Wikie was artificially inseminated with the sperm of Ulises, a male killer whale from SeaWorld.

In March 16th, 2011, Wikie gave birth to Moana, he met the rest of the pod a few days later. On November 20th, 2013, Wikie gave birth to Keijo, shortly after his birth, he was introduced to Freya, Keijo was her only grandson as Valentin was the sire.

Freya was the matriarch of the pod and was described as a fairly dominant whale. She was known to be a very reliable whale with her trainers, and was very curious. She also enjoyed playing "hide-and-seek" with her trainers. She played the role of "auntie" to Sharkane's calves. She also helped out Wikie with her calves.

In 2015, Freya sadly passed away from Hypovolemic Shock and blood loss and a few other factors.

Rest in Peace, Freya.

She was the first orca that passed away when I joined the community, it's so hard to believe it's been 11 years now.

PC: EdgeOFall (IG)

Today marks 1 year since the passing of Kamea, who passed away on June 18th, 2025, at 11 years old.

Rest in Peace, Kamea

We all miss your spunky and bubbly personality so much.